


To Noah, With Love

by HeartHarps



Series: 5+1 [2]
Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Christmas, Fluff, I Love You, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 03:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13045368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartHarps/pseuds/HeartHarps
Summary: Gummy worms, nail polish, a bible, and love.





	To Noah, With Love

**Author's Note:**

> As a pastor’s kid, I get Noah, and I totally get why his mom has him do weed. Wish my parents were that cool.  
> Anyways, here's what's going on here:  
> -It’s Christmas in San Diego!  
> -As the pastor, Noah’s mom holds a ridiculous amount of Christmas parties at their house (this is real i promise)  
> -As the pastor's kid, Noah has to be Perfect™, plus it's a lot of crowds and strangers pretending to know you  
> -So normally he just is high for All Of Christmas  
> -But! Since he's been cutting back with Jude, Noah thinks that he could actually be sober at one of these parties if Jude was there with him!  
> -So they're going to try it out  
> -Also Jude and Noah are getting each other christmas gifts

The doorbell rang. That was their cue. But Noah didn’t move. Jude felt him take a deep breath in his arms.

“You okay?”

He breathed again. “Yeah. Yeah.” Noah extracted himself from Jude’s hug, stood, and straightened his clothes. Well, as straight as they could get while Noah was wearing them.

“I’ll be right by your side the whole time,” Jude promised, standing and moving to tighten Noah’s tie.

Noah smiled up at him. “I know.”

“If you feel anxious, or scared, or anything, you can get me, or your mom. Or just, go outside, and I’ll find—”

“I know.”

Noah kissed Jude.

 

“-should be right down,” They heard, as they reached the foyer.

“There he is!” An old man exclaimed.

“Hello Mr. Mahler,” Noah said, going right for the handshake. “This is my boyfriend, Jude.”

“Wonderful to meet you!” Mr. Mahler said, shaking Jude’s hand as well.

“Boys, will you show Mr. Mahler to the living room?”

“Of course.”

“I know the way, Pastor Nicole, thank you very much.”

Noah followed him, but Nicole said, “Jude?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you again for coming. And do let me know if he needs anything, okay?”

“Of course,” He assured, and follow Mr. Mahler and Noah’s voices into the living room.

Pretty soon the living room was full of people. They had been mingling and entertaining members of their church for an hour before Jude realized he should check in with Noah. Once he’d successfully pulled his boyfriend off a ridiculously fresh baby and into a corner, Jude took his hands and asked, “How are you doing?”

Noah nodded. “I’m...okay. I’m good.”

“Okay. Do you want to take a break?”

“No, no, I’m good.”

Jude smiled. “Okay.”

“Oh!” Noah started, already hovering towards another couple. “Greg, Cherie, this is my boyfriend, Jude.”

Jude followed, but first made eye contact with Nicole across the room and gave her a nod. She nodded back.

“Hi! Nice to meet you.”

 

Dinner had been served and dessert was in full swing as people shuffled back into the living room with plates of cookies and cake. Jude was pretending to listen to a middle aged lady talk about her cats when he suddenly felt something bump into him.

“Sorry, will you excuse me?” He said, and turn to find Noah with a panicked look on his face, shaking his head back and forth very quickly.

 _Shit_ , Jude thought. He knew the living room was too packed to get Noah out quickly, so he put one hand on Noah’s cheek and the other on top of Noah’s clasped fists. “Hey, look at me. It’s okay.”

Noah leaned in so Jude wrapped around him, squeezing his upper body and talking quietly into his ear. “I’m here, it’s okay. I’m here.”

It was only a few seconds before he felt Noah calm.

“Okay, I’m okay,” He whispered, and Jude gently let him go.

“Are you okay?” Jude asked, quietly but sternly.

Noah nodded. “I am. I’m s—”  
Jude’s eyes snapped shut. “If you say I’m sorry I’m going to leave and never come back.” When he looked again, Noah wore a sheepish smile. Jude took his hands. “You’re okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you.”

The tension in Jude’s chest started to unravel. “Did I do okay?”

Noah nodded. “Thank you. Really.”

A tap on his shoulder pulled Jude partly away, and before he could protest, he was back to hearing about Snowball and Oreo.

 

5 hours and 50 guests later, they finally retired to Noah’s room, the burden of socialization lifted.

“Holy. Shit.” Jude exhaled, only then realizing how tired he was. They flopped back onto Noah’s bed.

“Yeah.”

“How many of these do you do?”

“5 or 6 for Mom, and a couple for Dad.”

“Wow.”

“Hey,” Noah said, and they let their heads roll to the side so they could see each other. “Thank you. You really did help me. I could not have done that without you.”

“Of course,” Jude answered, and they let the silence and fatigue settle between them like dust for a minute.

“Here,” Noah said, sitting up and pulling a shiny red gift bag out from under his bed. “You earned this.”

Jude sat up. “For me?”

Noah smiled. “Merry Christmas,” He said, placing the bag in Jude’s lap and landing a kiss on his lips. “Open it!”  
“Okay!” Jude laughed, tossing the tissue paper aside and pulling the first thing he grabbed out of the bag. “Um. Are these—”

“Weed? No,” Noah promised. “They’re regular gummy worms.”

Jude exhaled and put the bag of candy down. “Okay. Good.” He matched Noah’s gigantic smile as he reached inside again. “...Nail polish?”

“Do you not like it? I’ve seen you wear it sometimes. I can get a different—”

“It’s perfect,” Jude confirmed. “I was just surprised. ‘Cause I have two sisters, and two moms, I’ve never needed my own but…” Jude looked at it, examined the shiny, soft purple color. He read the bottom: _No Shrinking Violet_. “This is great, thank you.”

Jude checked the bag, and there was one more thing inside. If Noah had looked nervous about the nail polish, he looked positively terrified now.

Jude pulled it out. This one was much bigger, much flatter, and read: _The Holy Bible ESV._ “What’s, E-S-V?” Jude asked.

“It stands for, uh, English Standard Version. It reads like a book that would be written today.”

Jude nodded. He smiled. “Thanks.”

“You don’t have to read it.”

“No, no. I actually am interested.”

Noah took a deep breath. He was just staring at Jude. “...Really?”

“Yeah. Obviously your faith and whatever this book says is really important to you. And I care about you, so of course I’ll read it.”

Noah let a small smile start to spread on his face. “In that case,” He said, reaching for the book, “I should put some sticky notes in it so you know where to get started.”

“Why don’t you just tell me?”

“Hm?”

“Like in youth group, we can read it together.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah, if you want to.”

Noah breathed and Jude could even hear him starting to cry. “Oh Jude, thank you,” He said, pulling Jude into a hug. “This means so much. I’m so happy.

“And of course,” Noah said as he pulled away, “No commitment. No ultimatums or anything. I’m not trying to convert you, I just, I—”

Jude nodded. “It’s okay. I get it.” He packed his gift back up and reached for his backpack. “Now…Your turn,” Jude announced, presenting Noah with a large, flat object wrapped in paper.

Noah accepted it excitedly and unwrapped it carefully, revealing a black, leather-bound notebook with a gold leaf inscription on the cover.

Noah read, “To Noah, with…” And then trailed off, staring at the shiny words before him.

“With love.” Jude finished, and Noah looked up, tears in his eyes again. Jude could feel his own face start to twist with emotion as he said, “I love you, Noah.”

“I love you too,” Noah exhaled, dropping the book and pulling Jude into a hug. They laughed, and cried.

They parted, and Noah ran his fingers over the gilded letters with care.

“It looks expensive,” Noah admitted, and Jude shrugged.

He pulled Noah into a kiss, and when it stopped he said, “Merry Christmas.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Please drop a comment with your thoughts. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!


End file.
